Atop One World Trade Center, observatory offers high-tech displays along with sweeping views

This April 21, 2015, file photo, shows the top floors of New York's One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The observatory atop the 104-story skyscraper is scheduled to open to the public on May 29. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (The Associated Press)

prev next

A visitor to One World Observatory looks over Manhattan, Wednesday, May 20, 2015, in New York. The observatory atop the 104-story One World Trade Center opens to the public on May 29. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) (The Associated Press)

The Financial District and the World Trade Center, lower center, are seen from the observatory at One World Trade Center, Wednesday, May 20, 2015, in New York. The observatory atop the 104-story skyscraper opens to the public on May 29. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) (The Associated Press)

NEW YORK – From the top of One World Trade Center, it really does seem as if you can "see forever."

"See forever" is the motto of the center's new observatory that opens May 29, offering spectacular views stretching 50 miles past the Manhattan skyline to the Atlantic Ocean.

But even when the 1,776-foot building disappears into the clouds, there are still plenty of high-tech displays that reflect the optimism of a building and a city that rose from the ruins of the nation's deadliest terror attack.

In the elevator, a time-lapse panorama unfolds five centuries of New York history.

High in the sky, visuals and voices pull visitors into bustling daily life in New York City.

And for those afraid of heights, visitors can walk on video screens that show the dizzying view.